March 26, 2010 â€“ New York State Senator Bill Perkins and the Caribbean Cultural Center recognized Judith Escalona, filmmaker, writer, critic, curator, producer and executive director of PRdream.com as one of New Yorkâ€™s accomplished women in the arts.

For her work in new media and film, Escalona has received grants from New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affaris, New York Foundation, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, North Star Fund and Chase/SMART. Escalona is a El Diario/La Prensa Destacada Latina (Distinguished Latina (2000) and a Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College Awardee (2003). She is currently in postproduction on a new film entitled Bx3M which she wrote and directed.

PRdream.com which Escalona founded in 1998 changed the cultural landscape of Northern Manhattan with its new media gallery MediaNoche, Uptownâ€™s only art and technology gallery presenting a roster of local and international new media artists. PRdream.com has been recognized by AOL, About.com, and DMOZ Open Directory Project.

Her work has been featured in WCBS-TV, WNBC-TV, CUNY-TV, the NY Times, Daily News, NY Post, and the Village Voice. Escalona also produces television segments for Independent Sources, a magazine show presenting the views of ethnic and alternative media on CUNY-TV. She is the original creator and curator of Nuyorican Cinema and the Handball Court Summer Film Festival (now known as PRdream Summer Film Fest). Escalona teaches filmmaking at The City College of the City University of New York.

Bronx 3M is accepting submissions for roles in this new film written/directed by Judith Escalona. Bronx 3M is the story of three Latino youth growing up in a city going up in flames. Shooting to begin in October. Please read descriptions below and submit your headshot and resume accordingly. We will contact you if we are interested in you auditioning. If you are contacted, you must have at least ONE monologue prepared. Deferred payment. Thank you. Here are some of the roles:

MONA – Lead Role. Latina 17 years old. Sassy, stylish, loyal best friend. Vulnerable with a deep secret. Actress must be petite, feminine.

ANNA – Support. Latina 17 years old. Caught up in drugs. Actress must pull off a “tecata” look – skinny, strung out look

NELLY – SAME AS ANNA

ZUNI, CARMEN and INDIA – Support. Any race. 20-40, Lesbian, Confident. mature opinionated. Actors must stradle the line of Butch/Feminine.

EXTRAS – Actors to play teenagers in group scenes. Adults to play other roles.

AT SUNSET (8:30PM) IN WHITE PARK
East 106th Street, between Lexington and Third Avenues

This summer, MediaNoche’s Handball Court Summer Film Festival will present vintage films that screened in Spanish Harlem four decades ago. While today not a single theater remains, there once were six within a 20 block radius of the handball court on East 106th Street: The Azteca on 102nd Street and Madison Avenue, The Eagle on Third Avenue, between 102nd and 103rd Streets, La Estrella on 107th and Lexington Avenue, El Paraiso (“El Meito”) on Madison Avenue and 116th Street, the Cosmos on 116th Street, between Third and Lexington Avenues, and The Sun on Third Avenue and 118th Street. During their heyday, they were multipurpose theaters where film screenings were scheduled along with live performances.These theaters showcased an international roster of actors, singers and other entertainers from the Caribbean and Latin America, appealing to the tastes of the Puerto Rican diaspora which by the sixties had become a significant market for Latino entertainment in the Northeast. The vintage films reflect a long term relationship between the Puerto Rican community and its Latin American entertainers. Lucha Libre films, the Mexican genre featuring a wrestler as superhero, for example, are fondly remembered by Spanish Harlem residents — and currently satirized in the new Hollywood film Nacho Libre. In addition, films shot in Spanish Harlem will also be featured.

AT SUNSET (8:30PM) IN WHITE PARK
East 106th Street, between Lexington and Third Avenues

This summer, MediaNoche’s Handball Court Summer Film Festival will present vintage films that screened in Spanish Harlem four decades ago. While today not a single theater remains, there once were six within a 20 block radius of the handball court on East 106th Street: The Azteca on 102nd Street and Madison Avenue, The Eagle on Third Avenue, between 102nd and 103rd Streets, La Estrella on 107th and Lexington Avenue, El Paraiso (“El Meito”) on Madison Avenue and 116th Street, the Cosmos on 116th Street, between Third and Lexington Avenues, and The Sun on Third Avenue and 118th Street. During their heyday, they were multipurpose theaters where film screenings were scheduled along with live performances.These theaters showcased an international roster of actors, singers and other entertainers from the Caribbean and Latin America, appealing to the tastes of the Puerto Rican diaspora which by the sixties had become a significant market for Latino entertainment in the Northeast. The vintage films reflect a long term relationship between the Puerto Rican community and its Latin American entertainers. Lucha Libre films, the Mexican genre featuring a wrestler as superhero, for example, are fondly remembered by Spanish Harlem residents — and currently satirized in the new Hollywood film Nacho Libre. In addition, films shot in Spanish Harlem will also be featured.

AT SUNSET (8:30PM) IN WHITE PARK
East 106th Street, between Lexington and Third Avenues

This summer, MediaNoche’s Handball Court Summer Film Festival will present vintage films that screened in Spanish Harlem four decades ago. While today not a single theater remains, there once were six within a 20 block radius of the handball court on East 106th Street: The Azteca on 102nd Street and Madison Avenue, The Eagle on Third Avenue, between 102nd and 103rd Streets, La Estrella on 107th and Lexington Avenue, El Paraiso (“El Meito”) on Madison Avenue and 116th Street, the Cosmos on 116th Street, between Third and Lexington Avenues, and The Sun on Third Avenue and 118th Street. During their heyday, they were multipurpose theaters where film screenings were scheduled along with live performances.These theaters showcased an international roster of actors, singers and other entertainers from the Caribbean and Latin America, appealing to the tastes of the Puerto Rican diaspora which by the sixties had become a significant market for Latino entertainment in the Northeast. The vintage films reflect a long term relationship between the Puerto Rican community and its Latin American entertainers. Lucha Libre films, the Mexican genre featuring a wrestler as superhero, for example, are fondly remembered by Spanish Harlem residents — and currently satirized in the new Hollywood film Nacho Libre. In addition, films shot in Spanish Harlem will also be featured.

Reception with live music by Grupo Coco Rico, 6:30pm – 7:30pmScreening of film excerpts, discussion and Q&A, 7:30pm – 9pm

MediaNoche
161 East 106th Street, First Floor
(between Lexington and Third Avenues)

This Wednesday, July 26, at 6:30 PM, MediaNoche will host a reception for the filmmakers and leading actors of the award-winning Puerto Rican film Thieves and Liars (Ladrones y Mentirosos). Poli Marichal and Ricardo Méndez Matta, who co-wrote and co-directed the controversial film, will be present along with three of their stars: Cuban actor Steven Bauer (Scarface, Traffic), Dominican percussionist Isidro Bobadilla (Juan Luis Guerra y 440), and Puerto Rican newcomer Magda Rivera. Judith Escalona, Director of MediaNoche, will moderate a discussion with the filmmakers and cast that will include previewing scenes from the film and a Q&A.

Thieves and Liars tells the story of three families caught in a web of government corruption and drug trafficking. Much in the manner of Traffic, Marichal and Méndez Matta draw a connection between the two. According to Mendez Matta: “The fact that high level corruption and increased drug trade both surfaced at exactly the same time cannot be a coincidence.”

The film won a “Best Director” award at the Phoenix Film Festival and will screen twice during the New York International Latino Film Festival: Thursday, July 27, 8pm, at Imaginasian Theater; and Sunday, July 30, 6pm, at Florence Gould Hall.

AT SUNSET (8:30PM) IN WHITE PARK
East 106th Street, between Lexington and Third Avenues

RESCHEDULED BECAUSE OF RAIN TO JULY 29!

July 29 — Ansiedad, drama in Spanish with Pedro Infante and Libertad Lamarque
August 5 — Our Latin Thing, musical concert in Spanish with English subtitles
August 12 — Santo contra las mujeres vampiros, dubbed English version
August 19 — Popi, drama in English
August 26 — Crossover Dreams, drama in English

AT SUNSET (8:30PM) IN WHITE PARK
East 106th Street, between Lexington and Third Avenues

This summer, MediaNoche’s Handball Court Summer Film Festival will present vintage films that screened in Spanish Harlem four decades ago. While today not a single theater remains, there once were six within a 20 block radius of the handball court on East 106th Street: The Azteca on 102nd Street and Madison Avenue, The Eagle on Third Avenue, between 102nd and 103rd Streets, La Estrella on 107th and Lexington Avenue, El Paraiso (“El Meito”) on Madison Avenue and 116th Street, the Cosmos on 116th Street, between Third and Lexington Avenues, and The Sun on Third Avenue and 118th Street. During their heyday, they were multipurpose theaters where film screenings were scheduled along with live performances.These theaters showcased an international roster of actors, singers and other entertainers from the Caribbean and Latin America, appealing to the tastes of the Puerto Rican diaspora which by the sixties had become a significant market for Latino entertainment in the Northeast. The vintage films reflect a long term relationship between the Puerto Rican community and its Latin American entertainers. Lucha Libre films, the Mexican genre featuring a wrestler as superhero, for example, are fondly remembered by Spanish Harlem residents — and currently satirized in the new Hollywood film Nacho Libre. In addition, films shot in Spanish Harlem will also be featured.

AT SUNSET (8:30PM) IN WHITE PARK
East 106th Street, between Lexington and Third Avenues

This summer, MediaNoche’s Handball Court Summer Film Festival will present vintage films that screened in Spanish Harlem four decades ago. While today not a single theater remains, there once were six within a 20 block radius of the handball court on East 106th Street: The Azteca on 102nd Street and Madison Avenue, The Eagle on Third Avenue, between 102nd and 103rd Streets, La Estrella on 107th and Lexington Avenue, El Paraiso (“El Meito”) on Madison Avenue and 116th Street, the Cosmos on 116th Street, between Third and Lexington Avenues, and The Sun on Third Avenue and 118th Street. During their heyday, they were multipurpose theaters where film screenings were scheduled along with live performances.These theaters showcased an international roster of actors, singers and other entertainers from the Caribbean and Latin America, appealing to the tastes of the Puerto Rican diaspora which by the sixties had become a significant market for Latino entertainment in the Northeast. The vintage films reflect a long term relationship between the Puerto Rican community and its Latin American entertainers. Lucha Libre films, the Mexican genre featuring a wrestler as superhero, for example, are fondly remembered by Spanish Harlem residents — and currently satirized in the new Hollywood film Nacho Libre. In addition, films shot in Spanish Harlem will also be featured.